


Intense Emotions

by SML8180



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders-centric, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Janus is a Mom Friend, Mood Ring Eyeshadow, Post-Episode Flirting with Social Anxiety, Spoilers, Stimming, The Sides all Stim in Their Own Way, Virgil and Logan Have a Moment, i guess?, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26963482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: NOTICE: This story contains spoilers for the Sanders Asides episode Flirting with Social Anxiety! Make sure to watch the video all the way through before reading this story.Virgil and Roman are excited to tell Logan and Patton about the day Thomas had at the mall.Patton, Logan, and Roman all learn something new about their favorite emo.Logan and Virgil find they have something in common.Janus is just glad to see Virgil so happy.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 193





	Intense Emotions

**Author's Note:**

> A final reminder that this story contains spoilers for the most recent Sanders Asides, Flirting with Social Anxiety. If you have not yet watched that video, and don't want spoilers, go and watch it BEFORE proceeding to read this story.
> 
> Otherwise, I just HAD to write something post-episode for this one. So... Bonus upload this week?  
> (The usual Wednesday upload will still be happening, this is just something I threw together because my brain wouldn't shut up about the new video.)

Virgil was still on cloud nine following Thomas’ day at the mall which led to him meeting Nico. He knew full well that Roman was in the same sort of situation as they both entered the Mindscape Commons, still vibrating with energy.

“Well, it looks like  _ something _ happened while you two were out with Thomas,” Patton observed. He was leaning on Logan’s shoulder, relaxing as he played  _ Animal Crossing _ on his Switch.

“Oh my  _ god _ , it was  _ amazing _ !” Virgil confirmed.

“Well, it must have been, if that statement is coming from you, Virgil,” Logan commented. “What happened?”

“Okay, okay,  _ so _ ,” Roman began. “It didn’t  _ start _ amazing, not gonna lie.”

“Yeah, things were, not great,” Virgil agreed. “Got rung up as a senior for a movie, set off the alarm at a store because one of those electronic tag things was stuck in the jacket he got, among other things.”

“ _ But _ , when he got lunch at the food court, we spotted like,  _ the _ cutest guy. Like,  _ crazy cute _ , right?”

“He had these stickers on his laptop, Disney fan, listens to Paramore,  _ Nightmare Before Christmas _ fan,” Virgil rattled off.

“And pins on his backpack, but they were too hard to see from the table. So, he ended up getting into the line for one of the food stands. It was  _ Karrot King _ -,”

“Ew,” Patton quickly noted.

“Unfortunate food stands aside,” Roman went on. “I don’t remember all of them, but there  _ was _ a basketball one,  _ and _ , guess what else.”

Virgil hardly let a second pass before jumping back in again. “He had a pride pin! Flying that little enamel rainbow flag! An awkward trip into a garbage can, two awkward exchanges with strangers, and a rehearsal session in the bathroom ensued. This guy caught up as Thomas was going to leave, because he forgot his nasty carrots he didn’t even  _ want _ , and Thomas just  _ froze _ , and the guy turned to leave.”

“I started to think maybe it was for the best,” Roman added, sombering just a bit. “But then Virgil,  _ Virgil _ , took a chance and just,  _ shoved Thomas towards the guy _ . I’ve never seen bravery like that!” he went on, his energy picking up once again, causing him to bounce on the balls of his feet.

“Anyways, Thomas offered this guy his food, because, y’know,  _ carrots _ , and came clean about what was happening, and they got to talking and just, just,  _ oh my god he’s so sweet _ !” Virgil rapidly included, unable to keep himself from bouncing in place and waving his hands around like Roman often did when he was talking.

“And Thomas has a  _ date _ with him on Friday night!” Roman concluded.

Virgil and Roman both fell back into the squeals and excited bouncing they had been taking part in while with Thomas. Roman was fidgeting with his sash, while Virgil was practically knocked over by Patton, as the other man borderline tackled him into a hug.

“Oh my goodness, Virgil! I’m so proud of you!” he exclaimed.

Logan was more subdued in his excitement, as he hurriedly made a note about the date. “What time is the date, Roman?”

“They’re planning to meet at seven,” Roman quickly responded.

“This is so crazy!” Virgil breathlessly exclaimed as Patton pulled away. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot, and couldn’t help but flap his hands, trying to expel the energy still coursing through him.

“Virgil, could you look at me for a moment?” Logan prompted, seemingly out of the blue.

“What?” the hoodie clad Side questioned, looking towards the other. “Is my makeup smudged?”

“No, but it  _ is _ different,” Logan observed, standing from his seat on the couch and looking at Virgil’s eyeshadow.

“Oh my word, he’s right!” Roman confirmed. “It’s purple! Didn’t you put black on before we left?”

“It went purple?” Virgil inquired, unsure if he’d heard properly.

“Oh, it is!” Patton told him. “It’s purple and sparkly!”

Virgil hurriedly pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the front-facing camera to look at himself. Sure enough, he found that the black eyeshadow he’d put on that morning was now purple and a bit glittery. “God, that hasn’t happened in, I don’t even know how long…” he breathed.

“This has happened before?” Logan asked, tilting his head a bit in question.

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil confessed, putting his phone away. “I only ever put on black eyeshadow most days, unless it’s for something special or whatever. But, sometimes it kinda just changes because I’m experiencing heightened emotions.”

“So, it’s purple now because you’re happy?” Patton asked.

“Yeah,” Virgil confirmed. “It turns purple when I’m really happy and excited, I’ve had it go red because I got like,  _ really _ pissed at Remus one time, and blue when I got really depressed.”

“Fascinating,” Logan mused, taking a couple of notes in a purple notebook with a storm-cloud on the cover.

Virgil shook his head a little. He’d learned not long after being accepted that Logan had a notebook for each of the Sides. He would write down things they said, or notes about their habits and such. It helped him keep track of things, so nobody had an issue with it.

“Your eyeshadow’s like a mood ring,” Roman chuckled. “Has it turned any other colors?”

“Not that I can think of,” Virgil shrugged. “Sometimes it’s a pretty short-lived change, so the others wouldn’t really notice it.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye out then!” Patton determined with a smile.

“I’m still all amped up,” Roman stated. “I’m gonna go, like,  _ sprint _ in the Imagination for a while. Anyone wanna come?”

“Ooo,  _ yes _ ,” Patton agreed. The pair sunk out soon after, leaving Virgil and Logan in the room alone.

“This is the first time we’ve seen your eyeshadow change like this,” Logan mused. “Have you been unhappy here, Virgil?”

“What?  _ No _ , it’s nothing like that,” Virgil assured him. He would have sat down to talk about this, if he weren’t still extremely amped up. He just stood, letting himself shift his weight from foot to foot, still playing with his hands, tapping the middle and ring fingers of his left hand quickly against his palm, with his right hand tucked into his pocket, playing with his fidget cube. “I do like being here, I’m happy here. But, the shift usually comes with  _ really _ intense emotional spikes.”

“Is it similar to your stimming?” Logan went on to ask. “You do it more, though only when your emotions seem heightened.”

“Yeah,” Virgil admitted. “I try to keep the fidgety, stim-y stuff on the down low. I don’t wanna like, distract anyone, y’know? But, sometimes it’s like, that energy has to go  _ somewhere _ .”

“I am the same way.”

“What?”

“Only Janus is aware of this fact, but, I also have a tendency to stim when faced with intense or otherwise heightened emotions. Normally I make an effort to keep these behaviors behind closed doors, as I feel I will be distracting to others or not be taken seriously,” Logan stated. He adjusted his glasses before continuing. “Janus has informed me that repressing the urge to stim can be detrimental.”

“Yeah, he’s been trying to drill that into my head for a long time,” Virgil quietly chuckled. “I guess it’s something we both need to work on, huh?”

“Yes, it is,” a new voice chimed in. Janus was on the landing to the stairs, and neither of the other Sides knew just how long he’d been standing there. Rather than his usual outfit, Janus was in black slacks, a yellow long-sleeved shirt, and a dark grey cardigan, with his yellow gloves on his hands. “Some fidgeting or stimming behaviors  _ can _ be distracting, especially to those unfamiliar with what is going on, but given the fact that all of us do it, nobody here will judge you for it. Although you  _ really _ should stop biting your nails, Virgil. I know you’ve drawn blood doing it.”

It was then Virgil realized that he had pulled his right hand from his pocket and was biting on his thumb. He pulled his hand away from his mouth and shoved it back into his pocket.

“Slight shift in topic,” Janus redirected, coming down the stairs the rest of the way. “What’s got you so excited?”

“It would appear Thomas met someone at the mall and has a date with him on Friday,” Logan informed the other Side, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, rubbing the tail of his tie between the thumb and index finger of his left hand.

“Well, that is cause for celebration,” Janus responded. “It’s nice to see that purple eyeshadow again, Virgil. It's been far too long.”

Virgil watched as Janus left the room, heading down the hall. He smiled a bit, before pulling out his phone and selecting the camera again. The purple had faded a bit, as he was calming down, but you could still easily tell that his eyeshadow was purple. He still felt some of the jittery energy that came with all the excitement, but it was more subdued, feeling more like a warm fluttering in his chest than an overwhelming force that had to get out of him. He knew full well that he would  _ absolutely _ crash later, once all the excitement wore off, but that was a problem for Later Virgil to deal with by taking a nice nap or possibly going to bed a bit early. For now, though, Virgil sat on the sofa with Logan, grabbing his sketchbook and pen from the coffee table where he’d left them before he and Roman had met up with Thomas. He turned to a page that didn’t have much on it, just a couple of little doodles, and started to sketch with his pen, finding that doing so helped him process the remaining energy in his system.

Virgil had never really been one to often experience emotional highs like this. The moments of emotion that were intense enough to change the color of his eyeshadow were rare, and for him, they usually didn’t last too long. This time felt different, though, somehow. This wasn’t the same excitement he’d have when Thomas nailed a scene in theater despite everything in him saying it would go badly. This spike wasn’t just caused by Thomas; it was caused by  _ Roman _ , too. Seeing Roman so happy, smiling brighter than he had in ages, just did something to him. He wasn’t quite sure what that was, but if it led to more of these intense emotions, well, who was he to complain or question it?

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: The middle/ring finger tapping against the palm action Virgil does in this is something I actually do when I'm either excited or thinking! I do it with my right hand, though, while Virgil does it with his left (because personally, I do it with my dominant hand, and replicated that with Virgil, and I HC Virgil as left handed, since Thomas is left handed, so, yeah).
> 
> Also, I MAY have been projecting just a bit during this, since I myself do tend to hide my fidgety or stim-y behaviors because I don't want to be distracting or anything. It's something I'm working on, but I felt it fit Virgil and Logan. I might do a follow-up to this at some point that details them working on that. I dunno.


End file.
